Advertising Poster

PeriodApril 1873

Place MadeFreehold, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumPrinted glazed cotton

Dimensions23 × 28 in. (58.4 × 71.1 cm)

Signed"Printed at the office of the 'Monmouth Inquirer,' over the Post Office, Freehold, N.J.," printed in small type across the bottom of the fabric panel.

ClassificationsAdvertising, Business & Ornamental Artifacts

Credit LineMuseum Collection

Object number2007.524

DescriptionA printed advertising poster, black ink on glazed plain woven white cotton, in a variety of ornamental and florid fonts reading "As It Has Been / Pressingly Desired / By Many Persons, / ye Old Folkes Will Again Appear / At ye Brick Meeting House, / On Monday, April 21, '17 / ye Musick will begin to Sound at Eight of ye Clock, and Ye price will be the same as before except / Ye Children May Come In For / Two Yorke Shillings."
NotesThis amusing poster, printed in a variety of decorative "old fashioned" fonts on a glazed cotton panel, was an advertisement for an "Olde Folkes" concert. Old Folks (sometimes spelled "Olde Folkes") performances began in the 1850s in the New England states. Professionally trained singing troupes toured cities and towns, presenting concerts of 18th and early 19th century songs, including popular and beloved religious hymns, patriotic tunes, and secular melodies for their audiences. Troupe members dressed in "old fashioned" costumes to reflect the nostalgic nature of the performances. Many of the groups used "Father Kemp's Old Folks Concert Music" books for their selections. After the Civil War, Olde Folkes Concerts became increasingly popular in other areas of the country, including New Jersey. In addition to the professionally trained traveling groups, local amateur singing groups used Kemp's music as well as other musical books to present concerts to raise funds for local churches or other projects. In December of 1891, the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Ocean Grove raised $100 for an organ for the local Methodist Church by organizing an "Olde Folkes Concerte." In the 1889 edition of Kemp's concert music publication, songs included hymns such as "The Lord Is Indeed Risen," "Nearer My God To Thee," and "Jerusalem My Glorious Home." The Star Spangled Banner, "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Yankee Doodle," and "Revolutionary Tea" were some of the patriotic tunes included. A mixed bag of other songs included the "Anvil Chorus" from Verdi's opera Il Trovatore; Stephen Foster's "Old Folks At Home"; and "Home Sweet Home." An article in the Red Bank Daily Register in 1899 reported that a spring Old Folks Concert resulted in "an intensely good feeling between the performers and the audience, and all the numbers on the programme were generously applauded." Olde Folkes Concerts were performed throughout Monmouth County from the late 1860s through about 1900.

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